Slain banker’s trial: Court admits weapon as exhibit

JUSTICE Lateefa Okunnu of the Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, on Monday, admitted the alleged weapon (a kitchen knife) that was used to murder former Skye Bank staff, Omozoje Titilayo Arowolo, by her husband, Akolade Arowolo, in addition to some other exhibits tendered by the prosecution in the trial.The exhibits admitted by the court aside the kitchen knife include four mobile phones – a Nokia E63, an Itel phone, a Nokia dual sim phone, a blackberry phone and a Nokia phone battery as well as 29 photographs of the victim and the murder scene taken by the police which were tendered as identification to be tendered later by the photographer.

When the case came up for hearing on Monday, the prosecution led by the Director of Public prosecutions (DPP), Mrs Olabisi Ogungbesan, applied to the court to allow it amend the charge against Arowolo citing Section 155(3) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2011.

Justice Okunnu agreed and the one-count charge of murder was read to Arowolo, who again pleaded not guilty to the offence before the prosecution called its fourth and fifth witnesses to testify.

The fourth witness, Seidu Hussein, the security man at the residence of the Arowolos, said he was at the house on the day of the incident, adding that Arowolo and a friend had driven into the compound around mid-day and spent about an hour in his apartment before leaving hurriedly.

Hussein also testified that he saw Arowolo wiping blood from his hands while urging him to hurriedly open the gate.

“I saw him cleaning his hands which was filled with blood and he was telling me to open the gate quickly so that he can drive out,” he said
Husseni further claimed that he later saw a blood soaked cloth and some irons stained with blood near the Arowolo’s apartment in the four storey building, adding that the defendant after driving away in his Honda Accord car did not return to the house.

The fifth prosecution witness was ASP Titus Ogbonna from the Homicide Section, CID, Yaba, Lagos.

In his testimony, he claimed that he led the investigation after the matter was transferred to them from Aswani Police Station and they concluded the investigation.

In his testimony, he said, “when we got to Aswani Police Station where the accused’s vehicle was being kept as exhibit, we observed that there were blood stains on the steering wheel, on the driver’s seat and on the floor at the driver’s side.”

Arowolo, is standing trial before the court on a one-count charge of murder. He was alleged to have stabbed his wife to death on June, 24, 2011, at their 8 Akindeinde Street, Isolo Lagos residence.

The matter was adjourned to March 20, 2012 for continuation of trial.

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